Anybody see lowry address the media today? Goin straight 2pac fuck the world death row era
On adjusting to his new teammates
"At the end of the day when I come back, they gotta adjust to me. That's just how we play, they'll adjust to me and Demar."

"I enjoyed my all star weekend. And if anybody got a problem with it, come say it to my face. That's how I feel."

That's one of the problems with being injured. You have time to read what everyone is saying about you.

Comment

I think it's great. So many of those guys were criticizing him on twitter now they're looking for handouts from him to write a juicy story hahah.

I think the most interesting quote from Lowry actually came from Delon. Lowry told Delon to stay agressive, look for his shot first and if it's not there, then he should pass.

Kind of explains the whole Raps system doesn't it?....

Also, it could be just to emphasize to Delon to shoot more since he's been so hesitant. Go to the extreme and hope he ends up in the middle

This is what I've been saying for awhile. You almost have to give Casey a bit of a pass on the Raps lack of ball movement, because perhaps CoJo didn't get Casey'd.... he got Lowry'd. We have no way of knowing what goes on behind the scenes, but there could be the possibility that Lowry is undermining Casey in a lot of ways. In this case he's discouraging Delon's natural passing instincts and moving the ball. We heard the exact same quotes from CoJo last year, i.e., look for his own shot, which is reflected in him plummeting AST'd%.

Comment

Anybody see lowry address the media today? Goin straight 2pac fuck the world death row era
On adjusting to his new teammates
"At the end of the day when I come back, they gotta adjust to me. That's just how we play, they'll adjust to me and Demar."

"I enjoyed my all star weekend. And if anybody got a problem with it, come say it to my face. That's how I feel."

I think Lowry is really only happy when he feels aggrieved and hard done by. I think he enjoys being pissed off and angry. I can see that making him a very difficult guy to get along with but, from my perspective, get angrier Kyle! Opposing teams won't like him when he's angry.....

Comment

Lowry's agent is wringing his hands right now lol. They're going full fucking max bhoysssss.

I think this would be a bad idea for the Raps. If we end up going out in the 1st round I think it's time to change face if the opportunity is there. Depending how the lottery falls out, Phoenix will most likely have top 2 pick and would be dumb not to pick up either Fultz or Ball.

If that happens I see Bledsoe being expendable. The guy is super underrated and has a great contract for the next couple of years. They're also in need of a big guy up the middle...in comes JV...maybe something like this would work:

Phoenix: Bledsoe, 2nd Round Pick
Toronto: JV, Joseph

We don't lose much in terms of Lowry walking away and have some flexibility going forward with cap space. Next year have something like:

Comment

I think this would be a bad idea for the Raps. If we end up going out in the 1st round I think it's time to change face if the opportunity is there. Depending how the lottery falls out, Phoenix will most likely have top 2 pick and would be dumb not to pick up either Fultz or Ball.

If that happens I see Bledsoe being expendable. The guy is super underrated and has a great contract for the next couple of years. They're also in need of a big guy up the middle...in comes JV...maybe something like this would work:

Phoenix: Bledsoe, 2nd Round Pick
Toronto: JV, Joseph

We don't lose much in terms of Lowry walking away and have some flexibility going forward with cap space. Next year have something like:

Comment

Would be better than giving the max to Lowry at 31. If that happens most likely someone in our rotation would have to go anyways; and our flexibility would be a lot worse going forward in the future when we're locked in for at least the next 4 years. There's not much this team can do to avoid the tax next year, I was talking more down the line.

I wouldn't call Bledsoe a significant downgrade either, only real knock on him is his 3 point shot. He can definitely ball and if you put him on a winning team I wouldn't be surprised if he stepped his game up.

Comment

Would be better than giving the max to Lowry at 31. If that happens most likely Patterson would have to go and our flexibility would be a lot worse going forward in the future when we're locked in for at least the next 4 years. There's not much this team can do to avoid the tax next year, I was talking more down the line.

I wouldn't call Bledsoe a significant downgrade either, only real knock on him is his 3 point shot. He can definitely ball and if you put him on a winning team I wouldn't be surprised if he stepped his game up.

Dude, there is no one on this team more worth keeping and paying than Lowry. He is everything to this team. The team we are watching struggle along like a borderline playoff entry of late is what we'd get if we let Lowry walk - except to keep the team together, we'd probably have to pay the tax, which obviously we wouldn't.

Comment

I think it all depends on how the playoffs go. I was calling for a change if we have a disappointing end (have a 1st round exit or a 2nd round exit to anyone besides the Cav's) I'm also in the crowd of being weary of paying max money to a player that will be 32 next year. If he can give us a home town discount at 3 years I'm all for it but I don't see that happening.

I think the culture of winning on our team has been built enough to pass the torch to another player and Bledsoe would fit the bill. I wouldn't expect him to carry the team like Lowry did but who knows he might... we didn't even think Lowry had this in him when he first came here.

Comment

I think it all depends on how the playoffs go. I was calling for a change if we have a disappointing end (have a 1st round exit or a 2nd round exit to anyone besides the Cav's) I'm also in the crowd of being weary of paying max money to a player that will be 32 next year. If he can give us a home town discount at 3 years I'm all for it but I don't see that happening.

I think the culture of winning on our team has been built enough to pass the torch to another player and Bledsoe would fit the bill. I wouldn't expect him to carry the team like Lowry did but who knows he might... we didn't even think Lowry had this in him when he first came here.

If you lose Lowry, you burn it to the ground. This iteration of the team will never be better than it would be with Lowry.

Comment

Anybody see lowry address the media today? Goin straight 2pac fuck the world death row era
On adjusting to his new teammates
"At the end of the day when I come back, they gotta adjust to me. That's just how we play, they'll adjust to me and Demar."

"I enjoyed my all star weekend. And if anybody got a problem with it, come say it to my face. That's how I feel."

Its easy to see how this guy was bouncing around the league before he got to Toronto. I dislike him more and more as the days go on

Comment

If you lose Lowry, you burn it to the ground. This iteration of the team will never be better than it would be with Lowry.

I'd be one of the first to admit he's the main reason for our success, but to say best days are still ahead of him don't make sense. Would you be confident in paying $30M+ to a 32-36 year old Lowry with all the wear and tear on his body?

I'm promoting Bledsoe here more than knocking Lowry's game anyways, I don't see a drop off in our team with him on board (and Casey gone). I don't know how to put youtube video's in here yet but let's not forget his production against top teams like the Raptors, Clippers, Celtics and Jazz this year, just to name a few.

Comment

I'd be one of the first to admit he's the main reason for our success, but to say best days are still ahead of him don't make sense. Would you be confident in paying $30M+ to a 32-36 year old Lowry with all the wear and tear on his body?

I'm promoting Bledsoe here more than knocking Lowry's game anyways, I don't see a drop off in our team with him on board (and Casey gone). I don't know how to put youtube video's in here yet but let's not forget his production against top teams like the Raptors, Clippers, Celtics and Jazz this year, just to name a few.

Raps have no leverage with Lowry, he is def going to get a max. His agent knows the raps are capped out with this current core and if he were to leave the team will plummet with little hope to improve the roster in the short term. The same situation led to Mike Conley getting a max with Memphis.

Philly is also almost certain to throw him a max contract so trying to negotiate for any discount is going to be hard. After the Ibaka deal I think MLSE will go into the tax to re-sign both and build around this core unless we have a disaster in the playoffs.

Comment

I'd be one of the first to admit he's the main reason for our success, but to say best days are still ahead of him don't make sense. Would you be confident in paying $30M+ to a 32-36 year old Lowry with all the wear and tear on his body?

I'm promoting Bledsoe here more than knocking Lowry's game anyways, I don't see a drop off in our team with him on board (and Casey gone). I don't know how to put youtube video's in here yet but let's not forget his production against top teams like the Raptors, Clippers, Celtics and Jazz this year, just to name a few.

Bledsoe has never posted a WS/48 over .140. Lowry has floated around .200 for the past 4 years. Bledsoe's RPM has been between +1 and +2 over the past two seasons. Lowry's has been 6+, in the top 10 in the league each year.

There is basically no measure that suggests Bledsoe is anything more than an above average starter. PER pegs him as a pretty good volume scorer, which seems a little redundant with DeRozan on the team. Lowry is a superstar.

Lowry will almost certainly decline somewhat over the next few years. He'd have to decline pretty far to drop to Bledsoe's level, and there is no reason to expect Bledsoe to suddenly dramatically improve when he's already 27.

It comes down to - do you want to win as much as possible now? If so, you find a way to afford Lowry. If you don't want to win now, why bring in a guy like Bledsoe? Sell off veterans and re-stock with young talent and hope to find your next Lowry.

Comment

Raps have no leverage with Lowry, he is def going to get a max. His agent knows the raps are capped out with this current core and if he were to leave the team will plummet with little hope to improve the roster in the short term. The same situation led to Mike Conley getting a max with Memphis.

Philly is also almost certain to throw him a max contract so trying to negotiate for any discount is going to be hard. After the Ibaka deal I think MLSE will go into the tax to re-sign both and build around this core unless we have a disaster in the playoffs.

I expect a middle ground contract like DeMar signed - not the max we could offer, but more than the max another team can offer because of that 5th year, essentially a 4 year max with a discounted 5th year player option (although the salary would actually increase each year). Like, say, a 5/180M deal. The most another team can offer is 4/154M. So we essentially offer Lowry a 26M insurance year with a player option. Of course, the deal would be structured more like 31M, 33M, 36M, 38M, 41M (PO).